Basket weaving has long been central to daily life and local economies in northern Ghana, particularly in Bolgatanga, often referred to as the “city of baskets.” In collaboration with artisan communities in the region, PET Lamp a project founded by Spanish designer Álvaro Catalán de Ocón, integrates recycled PET bottles into traditional weaving techniques, translating them into contemporary lighting. “We work intensively with the environment, the artisans, the architecture, and local materials to abstract our own language,” shares de de Ocón. “All of this applied to our language of plastic bottle reuse, developing a collection around the expressive power of local textiles.” Ongoing for more than 14 years, the project’s latest Gurunsi collection draws from Frafra weaving traditions and architectural forms found in northern Ghana.
Named after the Gurunsi people, the collection takes inspiration from the adobe-and-branch structures that define Frafra family compounds. Their rounded enclosures and rhythmic construction are echoed in the lamps’ undulating forms. Woven by master artisans from The Baba Tree, each piece is distinct, with subtle variations in pattern, curve, and tension that reflect the hand of its maker and the organic nature of basketry.
At the center of each woven round sits a recycled PET bottle – an essential component of the design rather than a symbolic gesture. Incorporated directly into the structure, the bottle allows electrical wiring to pass through the woven surface, positioning the light source beneath the tapestry-like form. When illuminated, light filters upward and outward through the weave, emphasizing texture and shadow rather than the fixture itself. As the founder explains, “Gurunsi opens the way to a typology that hasn’t been seen in the market, one that works with both light and shadow. We float a large fabric in the air that projects shadows on the ceiling.”
This approach adapts an ongoing environmental concern – plastic waste – into a practical solution, while preserving the integrity of traditional weaving techniques. The PET bottle functions as a connector between material, structure, and light, enabling the lamps to operate without altering the essence of the craft.
Rather than acting as standalone light fixtures, the Gurunsi lamps behave more like woven surfaces that hold and filter light. Positioned between object and textile, they translate traditional basket weaving into a contemporary context while remaining grounded in inherited knowledge, established traditions, and skilled craftsmanship.
To learn more about the Gurunsi collection by PET Lamp, visit petlamp.org.
Photography courtesy of PET Lamp.
